This morning started out as a normal, typical morning at the Plaza Hotel at the tippy-top floor which was home to five: Weenie, who was a dog who looked like a cat, Skipperdee who was a turtle as the Plaza was the only hotel in New York who would allow you to have a turtle, Nanny, who is a beloved nurse and mostly companion to the two girls who lived in the room with her. There was Giselle who was 17-years-old and a student at Hawthorne Preparatory School which was within walking distance of the hotel. Also, there was Eloise. Eloise was six and a city child as she lived in the hotel with her beloved pets, nanny, and "bestest big sister in the whole wide world".
Giselle was fast asleep in her bed as she grasped the covers. Today she would be out of school which meant that she could hang out with Eloise and Nanny, but today she knew was a planned day which would lead up to something her little sister would not enjoy which was a tutoring session from Philip who wore red garters and was boring, boring, boring. He goes to Andover and the girls' mother knew the Dean since the school wasn't a proper fit for Eloise like it was for Giselle who was older and much more sensible. Giselle had mixed feelings for Philip, she did not hate him, but at the same time, she didn't like him. The same could be said for a certain woman in her life. Giselle's day began as soon as her little sister woke up for the day. Who needed an alarm clock when your little sister would screech out, "NAAAAAAAAAAAAANNY!"
Giselle woke up in her nightgown and slid on her slippers as Eloise woke up in her bed with her "Do Not Disturb" sign worn around her neck which was actually for the room doors. "Good morning, Ellie." the teenager said to her child sister.
"Good morning, Gissy." Eloise smiled innocently.
"Today, Philip is coming with a surprise." Giselle said which cued an eye roll from her little sister.
"Yeah..." Eloise pouted firmly. "The only surprises I like come from Mother in Paris."
"Yes, I have to agree..." Giselle chuckled lightly as she acted like she liked their mother so not to upset her little sister as her love for her mother wore thin ever since their mother took a job in the fashion industry for what felt like Eloise's whole life. At least they both had Nanny, right?
"What? What? What?" Nanny mumbled as she soon woke up to see the girls as they came out to the living room together.
"Nanny, we're hungry." Eloise pouted.
"Imagine my surprise." Giselle could hear Nanny mumble to herself as she plopped down on the couch in her kimono robe.
Eloise plopped down beside her as she reached out to the phone to order Room Service for their breakfast. Like she did every morning.
"Good morning, luv." Nanny smiled softly at Giselle.
"Good morning, Nanny," Giselle smiled back. "How are you?"
"Oh, you know me... I'll keep up just fine. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did... Looking forward to spending the day with you and Eloise... Even if Philip has to come along."
"Now, now, now, Giselle," Nanny started sharply. "I know you don't think much of Philip, but you know your little sister has to get her education somehow."
"Oh, I know, Nanny," Giselle reassured. "Even if he is a bit of a stick-in-the-mud."
"Yes, I must admit that's true." Nanny replied.
Giselle giggled a bit.
"Gissy, do you know what Philip's going to do with us today?" Eloise asked.
"I'm sorry, Ellie, I know as much as you do right now," Giselle replied. "Maybe it'll be like that time we went to the dinosaur museum."
Eloise shrugged a bit as she began to tend to Weenie and Skipperdee as she lived in her own little world with them living off their mother's fortune. She then began to yawn out loud several times as she stopped to think which Giselle guessed was that she would be trying to think of how she would get a present. Ah, Eloise, you are impulsive and sneaky, but you could never aggravate your big sister. Even if it was time for Giselle to do homework, Eloise would normally go off to play in the lobby until dinner.
"Nanny, are you feeling much better?" Giselle asked her mother figure, the best thing she could have with her and Eloise's mother who was off in Paris doing Lord knows what.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes, luv," Nanny reassured as last week she had to stay in bed with a bad cough after Dr. Hadley came by. "It was just a little... Cold... That's all."
"Are you sure?" Giselle whispered closely as Eloise wasn't too far away, but was in her own little world right now.
"Well, I'm hoping that's what it was," Nanny told Giselle as she was almost an adult and Eloise was only six. "I'm not getting any younger."
"Oh, Nanny, don't say that... You'll probably outlive us all."
"You're sweet, but I'm not too sure about that sometimes."
"At least you have Uncle Gavin." Giselle smiled softly, referring to Nanny's brother who used to visit when Eloise was just a baby back when their mother was around more often, including another man in their life who she missed too, too, too terribly to this very day. Of course, she never told Eloise that since she was just a child.
"Yes," Nanny smiled back. "I do have to wonder though what you girls would do without me."
"Oh, Heaven forbid that Kay do any parenting..." Giselle rolled her eyes about her mother.
"Giselle, you mustn't talk about your mother that way," Nanny lightly scolded. "She loves you and Eloise very, very, very much."
"Does she though?" Giselle murmured quietly.
"I know that for a fact, you know how she can be very busy, busy, busy... You shouldn't hate her." Nanny advised.
"I know, Nanny... She gave us life..." Giselle sighed softly. "I don't hate my mother... I'm just disappointed that she's almost never around. I feel like the last time we saw her was last summer before she left to go check out the new Fall collection in France with her dear friend Coco."
"At least she took you back-to-school shopping." Nanny coaxed.
"Yes, I suppose," Giselle shrugged as she looked around as Eloise played with their pets. "Nanny? I'm glad we have these talks. Ellie just wouldn't understand."
"You know you can always talk to me, pet," Nanny smiled as she hugged the teenage girl and kissed her cheek. "I may not be your mother, but I love you and your sister very much."
"We love you too, Nanny." Giselle smiled back.
The doorbell soon buzzed. Eloise came to get it as Nanny and Giselle stood up as it was time to get breakfast and to charge it please, thank you very much. The worker known as René soon stepped inside with the food trays as it was time to eat breakfast together like every morning. It was the same breakfast every morning: some raisins for Skipperdee, roast beef with some bone for Weenie, boiled eggs with bacon and white bread toast for Giselle, "rawther" hot coffee with Irish bacon, and of course, oatmeal for Eloise, otherwise she would "dry-up".
"Bonjour, Eloise, voici, votré, petit déjeuner." René said as usual.
"My, my, my, doesn't that look good?" Nanny added.
"Bonjour, René, merci and charge it, please." Eloise remarked.
"Bon appetite." Giselle would reply.
It just felt like a usual morning for the little hotel family. After breakfast, it was time for teeth brushing, pigeon shooing, bath and shower, and getting dressed. Giselle straightened her tie while Eloise tied on her trademark hair ribbon as Nanny squeezed herself into her corset.
"And Kleenex makes a very good hat." Eloise told Giselle as she wore a tissue box.
Giselle giggled out of amusement from her little sister attempting to be a fashion diva like their mother.
Some time passed and it was a bit of a cloudy afternoon. Philip soon came over to whisk Eloise away for her daily dose of education as she had to learn somehow and school wasn't a good fit for Eloise ever since Nursery School, unlike Giselle who could speak five languages from her education from Hawthorne Prep: English, French, Spanish, Latin, and her little sister's "Eloise-isms". Since pets were not allowed at where Philip wanted to take the girls, everybody's favorite Plaza employee Bill offered to look after Weenie and Skipperdee. It was a normal, usual day of course, but Giselle felt like somehow today, it would all change as soon as they would get to where Philip wanted to take them to today as a field trip for Eloise.
Eloise gripped Giselle's hand while Giselle held Nanny's hand. Even though she was a teenager and almost 18 by now, she still felt the need to hold Nanny's hand like she always did by the time Eloise was about to be born.
"Where, where, where are you taking us, Philip?" Nanny asked as they walked for quite a while, using her umbrella as a cane as it looked like it could rain.
"I thought Eloise could use a little culture," Philip replied, sounding a bit snobby in his tone. "So, we are visiting the Guertena Art Gallery."
"Guertena, huh?" Giselle spoke up as she knew that name from her mother's stories which came off as bragging to her whenever her mother did come to visit. "I know that name."
"I should say so, dear," Nanny told her and Eloise. "Your mother knew Guertena Weiss a very long time ago."
"Right..." Giselle replied. "He was a very skilled solo-artist."
"Wow..." Eloise whispered. "I make art sometimes."
"Yes, dear, but you shouldn't draw or write on the walls in the lobby," Nanny softly chided the child. "It's not very nice for Mr. Salamone."
"Yes, Nanny." Eloise replied softly.
They soon came to the art gallery building. Giselle just felt like today would be very off and different somehow as they came to the doors. Philip decided to get the doors for the girls as they finally came inside to begin the field trip.
"Maybe I'll run into Rhonda here... She likes art..." Giselle said to herself hopefully about her school friend.